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missjess

Another option would be commission a baker to just make a flour less cake and doll it up a bit with powdered sugar and or fruits/edible flowers. Just be sure to school the baker about cross contamination. (depending on your guest count the baker might have to make several of these, I know you mentioned having 3 cakes but you should probably prepare that some guests will pick the flour less chocolate cake option.

I like to make cousscouse, becuase yeah you have to boil it but only for about 5 minutes.

Oh and crazy enough the slow cooker can be a great option in the summer, you just dump in your ingredients, the slow cooker doesn't generate that much heat (as opposed to the oven) and you can make awesome chicken bbq or pork bbq sandwichs

I used to work with this most odious and rude woman who was terrible at her job, but that's a separate rant. Anyway she had this digestive problem where if she ate food with too much spice or seasoning she starts coughing. Nevertheless to her it makes perfect sense to eat ramen noodles EVERY.SINGLE.DAY and spend all afternoon coughing loudly.

I was watching Top Chef All stars and Tre was taken out of the show because of poor risotto. The Judges kind of lamented that he was a great chef and hadn't made a bad dish per se but it it was an Italian cooking challenge and Tre hadn't made a proper risotto.

Sounds like an awesome vacation! I went to Kauai for a week for my honeymoon, and Loved loved loved me some puka dogs which are polish sausage with tropical fruit relish and mustard (http://www.pukadog.com/), so good. JoJo's shave ice is also a must. I didn't try it but my parents told me about a roadside shrimp truck that is very good.

Dino for Italian and wine, Rasika for Indian, Jaleo for tapas, Founding Farmers and Art and Soul for upscale comfort food.For Brunch,Blacksalt is very expensive but is one of the best brunches I've ever had (but in general brunch is expensive in DC)

DC has a great food truck scene, this is a great website to aggregate the majority of trucks in DC and where they're located http://foodtruckfiesta.com/

I worked at ColdStone creamery when I was a teenager. I can confirm that the singing was mandatory and it got old FAST. (Oh and my job interview involved me being able and willing to sing on cue but it wasn't a big deal to me since I sang in a show choir and did theater.) And for what it's worth people still tipped us despite the singing, I'd usually net a 4-5 few bucks in tips per shift.

We'd get free ice cream with every shift we worked. I got so sick of it I used to get mine to go and take it home and leave it in the freezer for my family to eat. I think my favorite flavor was their chocolate peanut butter combo ( chocolate ice cream, peanut butter and Reece's cups) I haven't been to a Coldstone in at least 3 years and I cant' say I miss it much.

It's not just for tv, whenever I've cooked a Rachel Ray recipe, they are supposed to serve four people but that would probably be four hungry linebackers, or 6-8 people with normal sized appetites. Ina Garten's recipes are also guilty of that.

As for willpower, countless studies have shown that people over eat what's in front of them, especially if they are distracted. They don't always pay attention to cues to tell when they are full.

I am Jewish and I welcome non-Jews to my seder table. My family has made a tradition of inviting non-Jews to our seder so they can learn about one of Judaism's most important holidays. Several members of my synagogue have helped Christian groups to conduct their own seder.

I think it's great that the Obama family has embraced the tradition of conducting a seder

Once when I was a culinary noob I went into a Whole Foods to try and buy queso dip (the kind that is kind of plasticky- cheese in a jar). I couldn't understand why they didn't sell it! I'd never been to whole foods before!

Dino's is one of my favorite restaurants. and it's one metro stop away up in Cleveland park. It's a great Italian enoteca type of place and they have great vegetarian options. They also have several restaurant week type meal deals so you can eat inexpensively.

I'd second trying Ethiopian food, that's one thing DC does really well. And I'm very fond of Founding Farmers, and they are super vegetarian friendly, they have a vegan menu and great meal-sized salads.

I figured out last year that I like to keep it simple on valentines day, so this year my husband I are going to have a romantic fireside picnic in a living room,. We'll have bacon wrapped dates, stuffed mushrooms, some pate, some cheese, wine and for desert, chocolate truffles. Yum!

Agreed, they are funny for about 5 minutes. Also half their humour is based on the them making sexual comments about food they're eating or the random girls they entice into eating meat on a stick. Also I think the main guy looks like a sociopath....

Glad to see Ben's Chili bowl getting its due but seriously what a sham to not include Puka Dogs in Hawaii. Their hotdogs are amazing, they take a polish style dog, cook the bun from the inside out, top it with spicy sauce and top it with fruit relish. It is so.damn.good.

Annie- omg that sounds amazing. Beef Tenderloin was definitely a special occasions dish in my family.

Annother one was my mother's torte (layed dip) of cream cheese, (homemade) pesto and sun dried tomatoes. She'd only make it for parties and I'd see people literally camp out in front of the dip and eat and scoop after scoop of it.

@teachertalk- don't forget naan! Most people like naan, even if they don't like anything else. I had a very picky eater friend who visited India and pretty much subsisted on naan and tea and lost about 20 pounds. Lol.

It's funny, my parents are pretty adventurous eaters but only in what they've eaten already. They love to talk about the Thai, Indian and dumpling places they like but are skittish when I suggest trying Ethiopian or Korean.

I am hosting a dinner party for New Years for my family, should be about 5-8 people. I am going to make Momofoku Bo Ssam (http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/b... and I am very excited because I've been wanting to make this for at least a year! (ever since I saw a video of the Working Class Foodies making it at home

My two issues that might require some alternations. First is that I couldn't find bone in pork shoulder and had to get bone less. I assume that means I'd lower the cooking time so I don't over cook the pork (which I am going to do anyway since I got a 7 pound shoulder and the recipe calls for an 8-10)

The other issue that my family is coming in from out of town and I am not sure what our schedule is going to be like new year's day. I don't know if we are going to be out and about. I was debating either pre-cook the shoulder in the oven several days in advance or cooking the shoulder in the crock pot instead of the oven (I know shoulder cooks beautifully in a crock pot but I wouldn't be around to baste it) then warming it up and finish of the crispy crust the night of.

Which would be the better option? How many day in advance could I cook the shoulder if I chose that option?

Several years ago I was refgifted with a beer bread mix that she had gotten from a friend. I made it for a housewarming party to rave reviews. Years later one of my friends still talks about it nostalgiclly and I haven't been able to make a from scratch beer bread that measures up. Anyone know a good recipe for beer bread that will knock his socks off?

I'm in currently taking summer classes for grad school and the classes meet from 5-8PM. We are planning to have a potluck for the last day of class and I signed for a main dish since I live really close to school so transportation is less of an issue for me. I am just not sure what to cook, it needs to be pretty inexpensive to make and can serve about 15 people.

Have you ever had unepxected guests for dinner? The other night I invited my in-laws including parents, sister, sister's new baby and her boyfriend. Boyfriend's father decided to invite himself over to boyfriend's home to see the new baby. Rather than say "oh no we have plans that night." boyfriend just invited them over and didn't tell me until a few hours beforehand.

Luckily I was able to make adjustments and since the family didn't show up until after dinner I was able to strech out serving desert for 6 into desert for 11 by serving my cobbler in ramekins so we didn't run out of food. I was was pretty peeved. I tried not to take it out on anyone since the unexpected guests were very polite as can be, but it was tough to entertain three kids age 2-5 when you don't have toys for them except for a our cat who didn't want to be played with. I tried to be a gracious hostess but inside I was kind of seething at how tacky my sister in law's boyfriend was being. I don't know why he couldn't have told me earlier.

Anyone else have similiar adventures with unexpected dinner guests? Did you have to come up with a creative solution so you wouldn't run out of food?

My mother in law has a paticular genius when it comes to using up leftovers. The other day my father in law made too much salad (mixed greens + italian dressing with crutons0 and it was already overdressed. I was tempted to just throw it out but instead my mother in law blended it with some v8 to create a gazpatcho! I enjoy eating it on chips with a little hot sauce. yum!

Hey SE-ers I helped volunteer to cater my sister in law's shower luncheon I was given $150. My plan is to do bruchetta appetizers, pasta salad, green salad, some kind of chicken that can be served at room tempature, fruit salad and drinks. My mother in law is providing cake and the party organizers are going to provide decorations, plates and silverware and whatnot. Do you guys think I can stay under budget with that menu? That is my concern.

I bought some farmer's cheese to use as paneer for an indian recipe, and now I want to use up the rest of it. Any suggestions?

I was wondering if I could use it with some of the dishes I'm planning to make for superbowl, including stuffed jalapeno poppers (in lieu of or in addition to cream cheese) or in a baked mac and cheese dish.

Okay so my office is having a baking contest this month, prizes are 100 and 50 dollar gift certificates. Frankly I don't care about the prize. I just want to win!

I was leaning towards either cheesecake brownies or some kind of cupcake since my co-workers are absolutly gaga for cupcakes but on the other hand my co-workers gave me a tart pan as a wedding gift and I figure I should put it to use at some point. Any recomendations?

I made spicy tomato soup the other day (ingredients were onions, garlic, jalapeno, tomatoes, water and cumin) the end result just didn't please. I like spicy things but this soup was just too accidic. I put some yougurt in there to calm it down but I still don't like it much. My husband likes it but its' way too much leftovers for one person.

Any suggestions for ways I could use it up? I was thinking about using it as a marinade or putting it in the crockpot with chicken to make enchilada filling. Any other ideas?